The present invention relates to an apparatus usable for needle aspiration biopsy.
The use of suction or vacuum in conjunction with a fine-needle to collect biopsy specimens is known in the art. The use of a vacuum test tube in such a collection system is discussed in an article by Bruno D. Fornage, M.D. entitled "Fine-Needle Aspiration Biopsy with a Vacuum Test Tube" Radiology 1988:169:553:554.
Studies have demonstrated that the quality of the specimens obtained using a needle biopsy may be affected by the amount of and consistency of the suction or vacuum. Studies have also demonstrated that a significant portion of the specimen collected during needle biopsy is retained in the needle lumen. Thus it is useful to separate a collected specimen into two segments for further study: a first segment being the portion of the specimen in the needle lumen and a second segment being the portion of the specimen in the collection tube or syringe.
Due to the increase in infectious diseases such as AIDS and hepatitis, it has become increasingly important to minimize inadvertent contamination of medical personnel performing needle biopsies and other procedures. In known systems used for needle aspiration biopsy the collected specimen must be transferred from the collection device to slides and test tubes for further studies. During this transfer medical personnel may become contaminated by the specimen. Additionally the collected specimen may become contaminated or otherwise damaged during the transference process. This is particularly a problem if, as heretofore described, the specimen is separated into two segments. To do this the collecting person must separate the needle from the syringe and transfer both the specimen in the needle and in the syringe to other containers.
The use of sealed vacuum tubes connected to a needle is known for the collection of blood. The use of these sealed vacuum tubes minimizes contamination of the technician taking the blood and of the blood itself. Although these known systems are useful for blood collection, their design does not lend itself to use in needle biopsy since these devices do not provide as mechanism for safely separating the collected specimen into two portions.
Accordingly it is an object of the invention to provide a device for needle biopsy which permits the safe collection of the biopsy specimen and the safe segregation of that portion of the specimen in the needle lumen from the remainder of the specimen.